More Muslims Voting in Tennessee
Tennessee’s Muslim community could benefit from more representation and Tennessee’s lawmakers could benefit from more Muslim support.
“We’re tired of being an ignored community. We feel our issues should be front and center,” said Sabina Mohyuddin, executive director of the American Muslim Advisory Council, or AMAC.
Mosques are counteracting this underrepresentation by hosting candidate forums and participating in a Muslim Vote Day to encourage members to register and vote. Spearheaded by AMAC, the events and social media campaigns aim to show those within and outside the Muslim community how important its vote is.
There are an estimated 70,000-plus Muslims in the state. There are two who are in elected office: Berthena Nabaa-McKinney, Nashville Metro Public Schools board member, and Zulfat Suara, Nashville Metro Council at-large member.
"Seeing Muslims in elected positions, that makes a difference," Mohyuddin said. "That makes it real."
But Muslim voter engagement also builds bridges with lawmakers who aren’t Muslim.
Muslims are less likely to register to vote compared to many other faith groups in the US.
Mohyuddin said some of the reluctance she has encountered among Muslims in Tennessee is related to the political landscape. Some Muslims are uncertain about the effect they will have in a state dominated by a Republican Party that has at times been associated with and has a specific history with Islamophobia.
Also, some immigrants who are Muslim and have resettled more recently are still invested in politics back home or may not be US citizens and eligible yet to vote. Or they may be confused about how the US political system works.
Building momentum despite those hesitations has taken time and required the help of faith leaders.
“If the mosques are supporting it, that brings more credibility,” Mohyuddin said. “For those whose faith is very central in how they think and see the world, that encouragement makes them more likely to get involved.”
As a result, mosques have hosted candidate forums that AMAC helps organize. It started in 2018 with three candidate forums. This year, there were at least seven candidate forums and similar events before the August primary and the upcoming Nov. 8 general election at Islamic community centers in Memphis, Knoxville, and Metro Nashville and Murfreesboro.
“Islamically, we’re encouraged to be part of society. It’s actually spiritually ordered that we have to establish justice on Earth,” said Imam Ala’a Ahmed, who leads the Islamic Center of Murfreesboro. “We have a lot of spiritual encouragements that inspire us to be part of the society.”
Ahmed aims to communicate that message to members of his community in interpersonal settings and through events like candidate forums.
“In every community, it’s easier for the religious leaders to convince people to participate in civic engagement just because of the credibility,” Ahmed said.
Despite the progress the Islamic Center of Murfreesboro has made, Ahmed said they still encounter challenges. Many community members are immigrants who moved from countries where voting and civic engagement was discouraged, he said.
AMAC hosts parties to celebrate Muslim voter participation and organizes a Muslim Vote Day for mosque leaders to make a more concerted effort to encourage voter registration and transport people to the polls.
The outreach goes both ways. Some elected officials have sought to connect with Muslims beyond candidate forums, Mohyuddin said. Opposite of that, it’s equally telling when candidates don’t attend forums.
It's why the Muslim community is putting in the work with the hopes of getting elected officials to reciprocate.
It’s especially important because of the political, racial, ethnic and economic diversity within Tennessee’s Muslim population, Mohyuddin said.
“Politicians can’t make generalizations that Muslims belong to one party or the other. You have to fight for their vote.”
Source: The Tennessean
